


Next Jedi Part I: The New Beginning

by ExarSunrider



Series: The Next Jedi [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Jedi, Remake, Republic, Science Fiction, Sith, Starwars - Freeform, newrepublic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:02:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26537005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExarSunrider/pseuds/ExarSunrider
Summary: Remake of "Youth Wars Part I." There were elements in the original that need fixing.The force has reached out, and the newly surfaced Jedi and their Jedi Order are on the way to dispose of any lurking dark side forces which would seek to destroy them.
Series: The Next Jedi [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030254





	1. Chapter 1

Next Jedi: A New Beginning

Chapter 1

A new generation. After the defeat of Palptaine and the Order on Exegol, some of the remaining force-sensitives were encouraged to come out of hiding to help rebuild the Jedi Order, but not the way it was before.  
  
Years later, outside the Jedi Order, a small team of Jedi and powerful Padawans worked elite missions for the New Republic to balance the galaxy. There were occasional disturbances in the force, but mostly in politics.  
  
One day, rumors began spreading throughout Outer-Rim systems that individuals, strong with the dark side of the force, were going to rise up in rebellion to the New Republic. Jedi were dispatched across the galaxy to uncover the origins of the rumor, and to dispense of them once and for all; our main Jedi team was sent to Naboo to deal with reports of supernatural activity.  
  
The Padawan team was a trio that consisted of Aang Drakkar, a Besalisk who knew his way suspiciously well around the galaxy; Exar Sunrider, a non-political, orange and black tattooed Zabrak warrior; and Jo Loren, a distinctly comedic cyborg. And leading the trio were twins Rye and Erickson Follnor.  
  
Aang was a powerful Jedi, and wise beyong his age, some would say. He had been on many adventures and had fought in many battles, resulting in his arguably being the strongest of the three. When he applied his knowledge of the force to even science, he learned to do extraordinary things.  
  
Exar Sunrider was the team leader, as equally powerful as Aang. He was raised in an underground warrior organization since he was very little, and he became the most formidable Jedi the galaxy knew. Although when his missions were complete, he always stayed away from large crowds; he was raised not to be seen; but he was still adjusting to his new life, and he hated all the political attention.

  
Jo had the least experience, but was no less a powerful asset than the others. He usually handled the tech of the team, and tried keeping things afloat with a sense of humor. There isn't much to Jo, but it's enough.  
  
A singular transport ship arrived on Naboo to help the trio with the reported sighting. R.S.S. (Republic Supernatural Specialists) troopers unloaded with special technology. They quickly loaded up on an easy-carry transport.  
  
\---  
  
Aang and Exar followed closely behind the disfigured spirit that moved hastily through Naboo's streets. They watched in wonder as the spirit created blockades of debris by only waving its hand; they shared a concerned look.  
  
"I'm not sure we can catch up to it, Exar. Do you have another plan?" Aang asked.  
  
_"Don't worry fellas, I got it covered."_ Jo spoke over their team comms. He stood on top of a building, overseeing the ghost's path of destination. A probe he detached from one of his arms kept on top of the ghost, so Jo saw what it saw. "I got every other path blocked off. The _ghost_ is clear."  
  
_"Well! I thought you were out sightseeing."_ Aang playfully jeered.  
  
"Nah, I just thought I could represent squad _ghouls_." Jo joked.  
  
_"Knock it off, Jo."_ Exar told him. _"Stay focused."_  
  
The ghost followed the only path it saw. Every path was suspiciously blocked, except for one leading into an alley. So the ghost turned to the alleyway and moved down; it ran into the wall, hoping to phase through it, but wasn't able to go through. It silently pounded on the wall, trying to phase to escape, but it worked to no avail.  
  
Jo jumped down at the other end of the alley. The ghost swiftly turned around.  
  
" _Boo_." Jo said with a snarky grin. the ghost's face just deadpanned. Aang and Exar caught up to Jo, facing the ghost. " _Dead_ end."  
  
"You're not able to phase. You're an artificial spirit, aren't you?" Exar said.  
  
"I know not what you refer to." The ghost said.  
  
"The concept of life after death only applies to one condition. And it seems you didn't meet it." Aang said.  
  
"Don't try to fool us, we can _see right through you_." Jo said.  
  
. . .  
  
"Do you have to deal with that sort of thing all the time?" The ghost asked.  
  
"Yeah." Exar repiled.  
  
Just then, a few soldiers appeared on the roof above the ghost and opened the box trap. The trap was powered by a high suction vacuum, which immediately sucked the ghost into the box, which then closed.  
  
"You've been _ghosted_." Jo said.  
  
Aang looked up, then gave a finger salute. "Good work, men."  
  
"Glad we could catch up in time." One soldier said.  
  
\---  
  
As the Republic teams were loading up, some news anchors followed to ask them questions. Aang and Jo enjoyed interviews, but Exar hadn't yet adjusted to popularity; so when the two left him alone, some people approached him.  
  
"Mr. Zabrak!" A reporter called out. Exar shuddered.  
  
"My name is Exar." He said with resentment, trying to escape onboard his Tantive ship.  
  
"Mr. Exar, do you and your team often deal with ghosts?"  
  
Exar looked up in irritation, then turned around. "Nope."  
  
". . . w- well, what brought you here today?"  
  
"The force. Nothing you people would understand." He said, turning around and going aboard.  
  
The reporter scoffed. "Zabraks."  
  
Exar stopped in his tracks.  
  
\---  
  
"We just do our duty as Jedi and keep the peace." Aang was speaking to the reporter right before he heard a loud crash. Heads and cameras turned to see Exar standing with broken cameras and equipment at his feet, and reporters face down in the ground. _**"Apologies!"**_ Aang shouted. _**"He hasn't quite adjusted to popularity yet!"**_  
  
Aang returned to the interview. "So, Exar, there, has lived most of his life in the shadows. He wasn't exactly raised with the highest opinion of the universe, so we're hoping that can change."  
  
"So are you the leader of your team?"  
  
"Oh, no. Exar is." The answer bewildered the reporters, and Aang sensed it. "He's the leader, because he has known nothing but fighting and strategies his whole life. He was raised a warrior from birth; he always produces the best outcomes in a situation. He just doesn't like media attention."  
  
\---  
  
Meanwhile with Jo. "Ah what can I say? _Ghouls_ just want to have fun." Jo said, placing his fists on his hips and smiling stupidly into the camera. The female reporter gave out a hysterical, obviously fake and drawn out laugh. Jo's face morphed into one that said, _'What did I just hear?'_   
  
"So we know that supernatural activity is the property of the R.S.S., but why exactly are you here now?"  
  
"I'm just here for the _boos_."  
  
The reporter gave out a much less enthusiastic chuckle.  
  
"What can I say? I have Jedi _spirit_."  
  
"Okay, we're done here." The reporter said as the interview closed.  
  
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Nearby crowds groaned and walked away.  
  
"I can't boo-lieve this crowd." He said.  
  
Aang walked by and started dragging Jo by his cloak. "Let's go, Jo."  
  
"Hey! You can't _boo_ this to me!"  
  
"Enough." Aang said.  
  
"What _ghost_ around, comes around."  
  
"Shut up, Jo." Exar said.  
  
Jo said one last word to the crowds. "I'll send you all a _ghostcard_!" Then the ramp door closed.  
  
\---  
  
The trip back to their base was quiet. Not a single word, joke, or statement from anyone. The ship exited hyperspace in the Kashyyyk system and landed near their beachside base on the planet's surface. Along the landing platform, they'd noticed they had been visited by a Republic ship that they recognized to belong to Ephraim Sarith, their mechanic friend.  
  
"I'm still not fond of this place. We need a better base." Jo said.  
  
"Well, if we lose this one, Jo, you can pick the next one." Exar said, opening the door and entering the base.  
  
Jo celebrated in his head; Aang lightly smacked and said, "At least this isn't _Dagobah_."  
  
" _That's_ the truth."  
  
\---  
  
In the meeting room, their twin leaders Rye and Erickson were discussing their next Republic meeting, then Exar caught Rye's attention.  
  
"We cleaned up Naboo, but there was still no sign of any dark side activity."  
  
"But of the ghost?" Rye asked.  
  
"Whatever it was, it was of another spiritual energy. Like nothing _I've_ ever sensed before." Exar said, even surprised himself.  
  
Aang sat down, clearly distraught. "The force wasn't with it, yet it had the ability to move objects without touching them."  
  
"Other than the Jedi philosophy of maintaining life after death, I had never seen a ghost before." Exar said. _"Master Rye,"_ He said with extra emphasis, "What _was_ it?"  
  
"An _abomination_ is what that was." Aang said. " _Only_ the Jedi can become apparitions when they become _one_ with the _force_. Whoever that was didn't-"  
  
"Aang, be calm." Rye said.  
  
A moment of dramatic silence passed before Ephraim made his presence known from the hallway. "Am I interrupting something?"  
  
"Yes, but it's the interruption I need." Aang said, getting up and giving his friend a hug.  
  
"What's the update?" Ephraim asked.  
  
"No specific dark side activity, but there is something sinister afoot. We can neither confirm nor deny any sith involvement." Exar said.  
  
"I'll have our Senator friend propose an investigation into Naboo." Ephraim said.  
  
"And you three need to practice your lightsaber form exercises." Rye said to the main trio.  
  
Once everyone left, Rye and Erickson shared a look of concern and suspicion. Rye sat down next to Erickson and asked, "What are we going to do?"  
  
"We're going to ask ourselves what we can do, let the Naboo investigation proceed, and let our team investigate other systems further. All we can do from here is guide them." Erickson replied.  
  
"We need to convene the council."  
  
"Brother, we purposefully separated ourselves from the Republic, remember? We can't do our jobs within their jurisdiction."  
  
"I know."  
  
\---  
  
Exar sat down on his mattress with a huff, frustrated at the lack of knowledge he obtained.   
  
In the time Aang had been around, he had never experienced anything like what he had.  
  
Jo was equally as bewildered as the others, but didn't know what to think. His naivety didn't give him a hint of a bigger picture.  
  
There was a bigger picture; bigger than the Jedi ever knew. Bigger than the Sith; bigger than the force itself. Only time could begin to unravel the destiny of the universe.  
  
_\--- The Next Day ---_  
  
Aang took a stroll by the beach of Kashyyyk, then sat in his favorite spot. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind, and listened to the waves. He heard the howls and crashes; he felt the life energy within the planet and connected. He took a deep breath and began meditating.  
  
Jo went digging around deep in the forest. He would occasionally find artifacts from the Clone War buried deep in the ground; he would polish it up and occasionally put it on display in his room. He sensed something in one spot particularly, and concentrated on digging there. He struck gold -or armor- when he uncovered a set of Clone Trooper armor.  
  
Exar exited his room late; he spotted Rye and Erickson packing some supplies. He asked, "Going back to Coruscant? Where are the others?"  
  
"Their usual antics on the beach." Erickson answered.  
  
"With your discoveries, we're proposing an investigation into Naboo to the Senate."

  
"Ephraim left already?" Exar inquired.  
  
"He did. He's making early preparations for us."  
  
Exar hummed. "Good luck, masters." He said, then escaped to the beach.  
  
\---  
  
Aang had a vision. He couldn't make out most of it, but was confident in a few clues. When he awoke from his vision, it felt like no time had passed. "Mustafar." He mumbled. _'I know that ash-ridden planet anywhere.'_ He thought.  
  
Exar approached him on the beach. "I know _that sense_ anywhere. What is it this time?"  
  
"I think we're supposed to go to Mustafar."  
  
"Didn't we go there already?" Exar asked.  
  
"Oh I remember Mustafar very well. Well, you know, I have _fl-ash_ memory." Jo said as he appeared in full Clone armor, tapping the robot side of his head.  
  
"Oh another one?" asked Exar.  
  
"Yeah, I feel a _c-ash_ flow."  
  
"How do you connect that?" Aang asked.  
  
"Nostalgia always rakes in big bucks." Jo answered.  
  
"Not everything is funny, Jo." Exar stated. "You have to start taking things more seriously."  
  
"In a galaxy of adventure, and war, far from everything is funny."  
  
. . .  
  
"So. . . what's the sitch?" Jo asked.  
  
. . .  
  
"Is that a reference to something that hasn't been invented yet?" Exar asked, putting his fists on his hips.  
  
"We are a long time ago."  
  
At that moment, the three of them felt a sudden shift in the force like none of them had ever felt before.  
  
. . .  
  
"I'm not the only one who felt that, right?" Jo asked.  
  
"Well," Aang said, standing up from his place and brushing the sand off his robe, "I say we move to Mustafar now."  
  
"Agreed. I have a bad feeling something sinister is about to unfold."  
  
\---  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

  
"So now that we've blasted off, you mind telling us what's so important?" Exar asked.  
  
"Don't keep us in such suspense." Jo said monotonously.  
  
"I had a vision." Aang said plainly.  
  
"Hate to break it to you, but we Jedi get visions all the time." Jo replied.  
  
Aang swiveled in his chair. "Not me. I haven't had a vision in a long, time."  
  
"How long?" Jo asked.  
  
Aang sighed; he never reminisced upon those times. "Not since the time of the Empire." He answered, swiveling back around.  
  
\---  
  
They exited hyperspace above Mustafar. Exar and Jo never saw Mustafar, but had heard stories. Exar was informed; he'd heard about the planet, and suspected where they were headed; and now that he beheld with his own eyes, he connected the dots.  
  
"Mustafar!" Exar exclaimed. "The birth place of Darth Vader."  
  
"Ever since the prophesy of the Chosen One was fulfilled, Mustafar has had time to heal itself of its dark side curse. But something's happened here. Something, wrong- it's hard to say, it's, unusual."  
  
That pressed Jo to interrogate. "Unusual, like, out of the ordinary, or like dark sense of humor? . . . or like, alternate, parallel universe thing that shouldn't be here kind of unusual?"  
  
"I think it's p- now how would I know that?!"  
  
\---  
  
They landed on Mustafar, near an abandoned construction outpost. The power had been stripped from the area, but all the lights were switching on and off.  
  
"What happened here?" Aang asked.  
  
Exar closed his eyes and tuned his senses. "The dark side." He answered darkly, "Be at your ready."  
  
Exar and Aang took ahold of their hilts, and Jo grabbed his wrists, and the three entered the hallway built into the deactivated volcano wall.  
  
They entered -what looked like- a base, or a planning room. There were deactivated holo tables and monitors inside, flickering on and off smoothly. It looked like there were maps of empty plains on the tables.  
  
"This must've been a war room. A secret base." Exar said.  
  
"The Separatists." Aang specified.  
  
"Separatists." They heard a weak, limp voice cry.  
  
At the same time, all three of them activated their lightsabers. Exar held a blue blade, Aang held one green and one blue, and Jo contained orange lightwhips in his wrists. The buzz of their blades echoed throughout the halls.  
  
"Jedi." The voice said upon hearing the blade's humming.  
  
"Where are you?" Exar asked.  
  
From behind the closest table, a body dragged itself out; it was a Neimoidian, and he started crawling towards them.  
  
The trio was alarmed, confused, and almost horrified. Because when they looked down upon the corpse, there was a clean slice going halfway through his chest; the injury originated through his heart. They were perplexed at how he was moving and speaking.  
  
"The war, was a hoax! The sith, they were behind all of it, and they betrayed us." The zombie grabbed Aang's boots and tried pulling himself up. "They're, they're still out there." Aang stared into the Neimoidian's strangely yellow eyes as he was spoken to. "They're how I'm alive. I see the truth now." He began struggling to maintain himself. He fell, and his back hit the ground; when he did, lightning protruded from his fingers and hit one of the screens on the wall. He coughed up blood and said, "Please! Kill me!"  
  
This was all troubling to them. Even Aang hadn't seen anything as this. "Jo." Aang said quietly, holding his hand out. Jo looked down at the body, then up at Aang. Jo unignited his lightwhips and pulled his blaster from his cloak, and handed it to Aang.  
  
Aang kneeled down to fulfill the Neimoidian's request. When he got close enough, he found himself yanked forward slightly.  
  
"Beware the Zabrak. The end draws near." The Neimoidian whispered into Aang's ear. Then he let himself fall back. He looked over to one of the holographic tables and saw a peaceful image, indicating the end of the war, which he never saw. "Peace." He whispered.  
  
Aang slowly put the gun to his head, waited a few seconds, then reluctantly pulled the trigger. The body relaxed itself as it was once again put to rest.  
  
"Aang." Exar said. "What did he say to you?"  
  
'Beware the Zabrak?' Aang thought. 'Is Exar hiding something?' He stood up and turned around. "He said 'the end draws near.' "  
  
"The sleepwalking dead here sounds like any other kook if you ask me. Could you flesh out the details?"  
  
"He seems too serious to be just another paranoid person." Aang said, taking a sample of the blood before it was too late. He tossed the blood vial to Jo.  
  
"It's a shame though," Jo said, putting the vial in a slot in one of his custom robot arms. "He wasn't a husk of his old self." When Jo heard nothing, he added, "A feeling in my gut tells me I need to shut up."  
  
"Jo, you don't even have a gut." Exar said strangely nonchalantly.  
  
"Oh yeah." He murmured.  
  
"Aang, you okay?" Exar asked. He was suddenly unnerved as no one seemed to be moving.  
  
"Oh, yeah, I am." Aang said, snapping out of his trance and standing back up. "Well now we have something new to report."  
  
"He's right. Get the masters on the line." Exar agreed, heading back to the ship.  
  
"In my experience, this would also be the moment to get help from, further up." Aang suggested.  
  
Exar stopped, thought for a response for a moment, then said, "We don't need to; we've handled stranger."  
  
"I think not. This is beyond even me."  
  
Exar sighed. "Fine. As long as we're not here when they work." Then he retreated back to the ship.  
  
"Something on your mind?" Jo asked Aang.  
  
"I haven't seen a Sith since the Imperial days."  
  
"Mmm." Jo hummed. "You know, I've always been meaning to ask: how are you. . . you?" Jo asked. Aang just gave him an odd look. "I mean, how do you look so young, yet remain ancient?"  
  
"Didn't need to say 'ancient,' " Aang mumbled, then answered, "I can show you, but it has to remain within the team. It'd also give Exar a valid reason not to hang around when the officials arrive."  
  
"You serious? Let's go!"  
  
"Hey, Exar!" Aang shouted. "We're heading to Kamino! Be ready!"  
  
"Kamino!?" Jo exclaimed.  
  
"Fine!"  
  
Aang and Jo caught up to Exar on the ship to make their report, and request an investigation of the site. "This is stranger than even what I saw on Naboo. I have doubts that the paranormal investigations crew will be able to solve this. At least, not soon and not alone." Aang said.  
  
"How do you mean?" Rye asked in crystal clear holographic imagery.  
  
"Whoever is responsible for these supernatural dealings is in tune with the dark side. We need someone on our side who deals with it."  
  
"What happened?" Rye asked, growing more curious and anxious.  
  
"It's. . ." Aang looked off to the side and squeezed his eyes shut. Just thinking about what he witnessed turned his bowels inside out. Never in his years had he seen anything like it; he didn't even know how to properly word out the experience. ". . . Not easy to explain. It'll, be in my personal report."  
  
"And what does Exar think of all this?"  
  
"I couldn't tell ya. You know it's hard to read a guy with one emotion."  
  
Rye simply nodded. He was unsettled to the core; the possibility of a rising surge of dark-siders could mean the worst for the galaxy.  
  
"Do you think we'll be at war again?" Aang asked.  
  
"No one wants war; but in this day and age, some people strive for nothing less."  
  
"I've lived through two of them already; and if there's anything I know about the enemy, it's that they've always had a long time to plan this stuff out. Each threat is bigger than the last. Darth Sidious-"  
  
"Only came through again because it wasn't seen through that he was finished."  
  
"Do you know anyone who might still be alive?" Aang asked.  
  
Rye averted his eyes downward, sighed in regret, then answered, "No. No one."  
  
"I saw that look. What happened?"  
  
Rye looked back at Aang and replied, "Possibly the most important lesson a Jedi could know is that you can't save everybody."  
  
"You're talking to a war veteran; you think I don't know that?" Aang quipped.  
  
Rye snickered. "Should I expect to have you back soon?"  
  
"Later, rather than sooner. We're heading to Kamino."  
  
"Have Exar keep me posted." Rye requested, then turned off the hologram.  
  
No shortly after the team left did the paranormal investigators arrive, led by New Republic Lieutenant Governor Calista Calfan.  
  
Calista was a short, beautiful woman. Her round face accented her short, slightly chubby figure. She wasn't force-sensitive; but she proved that you don't need to be force-sensitive to take a big role in the galaxy, so she took to paranormal investigations, along with her role as Lieutenant Governor of the New Republic.  
  
"Sir!" A clone officer exclaimed to Calista. "Dark side readings are off the charts."  
  
"Explain." Calista commanded.  
  
"It's like nothing we've ever seen before."  
  
"Have we determined the source?" She asked.  
  
"Not yet, sir."  
  
"Show me."  
  
The officer led her inside the room. The corpse had been hauled off to be sent to a morgue, but everything else seemed to be intact.  
  
"The corpse held the power which was detected?" Calista asked, kneeling down to inspect the area.  
  
"That's correct, sir!"  
  
"But wasn't the source of the power?"  
  
"Eh, no. That's where it confuses us. What we detected, came from. . . up." He said as he pointed a finger to the ceiling.  
  
Calista hummed. She got up and walked outside, then looked into the sky. The officer followed her and said, "We followed it about twenty meters off the ground; there, our devices were rendered useless."  
  
"That's where it was strongest." Calista discerned. "Can you get some kind of readout from here?"  
  
"Perhaps, but results will take a long time. We've never seen anything like this in our paranormal investigations."  
  
"Never?"  
  
"No, sir. We primarily specialized in ghosts and portals, not random explosions of force energy."  
  
"All we know so far is that is is a spontaneous trail of dark force that landed in the corpse."  
  
"Pretty much-" The officer was interrupted when everyone felt a rumble.  
  
"Take cover!" Calista shouted.  
  
Everyone ducked to the ground. Suddenly, a red energy explosion erupted from inside the room, pushing everyone and every ship back, nearly pushing them off the edge of the platform.  
  
Once Calista recovered, she asked, "Is everyone alright?"  
  
"We're fine, sir!" "Yes." "We're okay!"  
  
"Do we have everything we need to research?" Calista asked.  
  
"I think so!"  
  
"Alright, then let's pack it up. Hopefully we can get some insight into this matter."  
  
Every radio on the site buzzed on. "Come in, ground team! Come in ground team!"  
  
Calista picked up her comlink and answered, "This is the Lieutenant Governor. I read you."  
  
"The body. It's gone."  
  
"Gone? Pirates?"  
  
"No, not stolen, sir. It just, disappeared."  
  
"Disappeared?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Calista lowered her hand and looked into the hallway that led to the room. She walked in to observe the room again; but suddenly, everything looked much more ancient, like no one had been there for decades.  
  
"Commander!" Calista shouted. The commander quickly ran to her side. "You caught an image of the room before, right?"  
  
"I did, sir. Whyyyyyy-woah!" The commander also took note of the room's condition.  
  
Calista took out an imager orb and took a three-hundred sixty degree image of the room. "A before and after collage will be something interesting to present to my husband." She heard the commander shiver. "Don't worry, you don't have to be there." She assured him. Governor Bolen Calfan didn't have the friendliest reputation among officials. He was a hard man, unbiased, which allowed him to properly serve justice; and it made him a powerful Jedi, and the head of the new Jedi Council.  
  
"Let's finish packing it up." Calista suggested.  
  
"We're just about finished, sir."  
  
They finished packing everything up; but before everyone manned their vehicle, they heard some crumbling rock. Calista looked at the mountain around the hallway, and saw that it was beginning to crumble. "Everyone go! The mountain's falling!" The mountain began more quickly falling apart; the team was scurrying as quick as they could to get the ships up and running and escape the mountain; they had recently installed emergency startups for such situations.  
  
They were quick enough to avoid the massive landslide that came a second later. Calista witnessed the whole thing from a window. "The explosion annihilated the integrity of the mountain. There's something out there, and it has this power. We have to get to the bottom of this soon."  
  
\---  
  
"Do you think the sith are actually alive?" Jo asked.  
  
"Only they could have the power to do such a thing." Exar replied.  
  
"Why haven't we been able to sense it?"  
  
Exar sighed. "Back in the day of the Old Republic; not the old Old Republic, but the last Republic; there were ten thousand Jedi serving the galaxy. The massive use of the force wore thin their ability to sense the dark side."  
  
"But there's only a handful of Jedi now. Why didn't we sense it?"  
"They were always on guard, but we weren't. Palpatine died, the First Order was destroyed, and we thought we took care of everything." Jo could sense Exar growing frustrated. "But we were blind." Exar said quietly, but aggressively.  
  
"We took our victory for granted."  
  
They sat in silence for a few moments, then Aang burst inside the room. "You guys need to hear this!"  
  
"What happened?" Exar asked.  
  
"I analyzed the blood from the Neimoidian, and found it reeking with dark force."  
  
"Okay?" Exar said, wondering where Aang's apparent rant was heading.  
  
"In the middle of my analyzation, everything I sensed going on in that place suddenly disappeared. I checked back on the sample, and it was gone!"  
  
Exar furrowed his brow. "What do you mean gone?"  
  
"The blood, the DNA, the dark force, everything is gone! Like it was just taken from existence!"  
  
"That makes absolutely no sense." Jo said.  
  
"Yeah. There's something funny going on here. And I have a feeling we're a long way from finding out what." Exar said.  
  
Aang sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this.  
  
  



End file.
